After a few weeks, I finally finished reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes earlier this week and, man, the ending left me speechless. The book is about a very ordinary woman named Louisa who has to work as a carer for a disabled man named Will. The two find an unexpected connection as Louisa learns that Will doesn't want to continue living because he just can't bear living with his illness. This story makes me question a lot of things. Is it acceptable if we want to end our lives because it is so unbearable? What do we do if someone we love wants to die like Will? Should we let them make their own choice and have what they want? Or should we try as hard as we can to keep them alive even though they don't want to live anymore? Which one is the right thing to do? To be honest, I still don't know the answers and can't stop thinking about this. What a thought-provoking story.
I also saw Cinderella in IMAX this week! One of my most anticipated movies of the year! As expected, the movie is soooo lovely!
The way Cinderella and her prince look at each other is just........
My favorite thing about this live-action version of the classic fairy tale is the relationship between Cinderella (Lily James) and the prince (Richard Madden and his beautiful blue eyes haha). I love that they don't meet for the first time at the ball and just fall in love like in the animated version. Instead, they meet before the ball and leave a great impression for each other, which then grows into love as they know more about each other. It seems more realistic. I also like the fact that Ella is fine with just remembering the prince as a beautiful memory. She loves the prince but she doesn't have to have him; just loving him is enough. I think it's very kind and selfless. And the chemistry between Lily and Richard is just really good. The way they look at each other makes me want to smile, squeal and swoon hahaha. There's also a little story about the prince and his father in this movie, which is not explored in the original animated movie. I love the father-son relationship; it's just so sweet.
The costumes are fantastic. I especially love Cinderella's blue dress. It's HUGE and so dreamy. I thought it was a CGI dress but I heard it's real. The dress looks so wonderful when Cinderella dances with the prince at the ball. Oh yeah, the dance scene done by Lily and Richard is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. They say the two actors had to prepare for about 2 months for that scene. Well, it's definitely worth it.
But I myself don't celebrate Chinese New Year and only had one day-off in the middle of the week, so I had nothing to do yesterday. I didn't want to get bored to death, so I decided to start reading the e-book that my friend gave me (Me Before You by Jojo Moyes) and watch movies (The Last Five Years and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1). It will take time for me to finish the book and write a review of it, but I've finished watching the movies. So here are my thoughts about them.
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
This movie is included in my anticipated movies list for 2015 (See it here). I was very, very excited to see this movie, but after finally seeing it, I must admit that it is not as good as I expected. The story is actually very interesting. I think it's an honest portrayal of a failed relationship because it shows how the failure is not anyone's fault. It shows that, like I once said in one of my posts, people have different paths. People might cross paths but there will always be one point where they have to go to different directions. The separation might be painful but it's no one's fault; it's just how it is. I also like the concept of the storytelling (The female character, Cathy, tells it from her point of view backwards while the male character, Jamie, shows us the way he sees it chronologically). I think it's unique. And the two main actors, Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, are awesome. I really love their chemistry and their singing voices!
But I find the movie as a whole quite... strange. Hmm it's hard to explain why I think it's strange. For people who are not familiar with the musical (This movie is based on a musical where all the dialogues are sung, like Les Miserables) and the way the story is told, I think this movie would be very confusing. There is no clear explanation or clue about how the story is told (the backwards and forwards thing) and about what Cathy and Jamie are actually doing. The two characters just take turns in singing all the time. It's more like a compilation of their music videos than a movie, actually. Maybe this movie would be better if they make some adjustments with the storytelling, so that it would be easier for audience to follow the plot.
Rating : 3/5
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1
I know it's a bit late, but I just saw this movie yesterday. When the movie came out in cinemas last year, many people said that this movie disappointed them. Well, I still like Catching Fire more than this one, but I don't think this movie is disappointing at all. It's just a little different from the previous films, and from people's expectations. Unlike the previous two films, this one is not an action-packed movie. It shows more of the characters' emotions, especially Katniss's.
I love how they show more of Katniss's emotions here. In this movie, and in the previous ones too, she keeps saying that she doesn't want to be involved in the war against President Snow and the Capitol; that all she wants is to keep the ones that she loves safe. I used to think it was selfish. But then I realized how sickening it must be for a teenage girl like her, to get dragged into a war where there is nothing but pain and violence. It's just too... crazy. Wanting to run away from that kind of thing is something very... human, I think. And then, as the movie goes on, she learns that she also cares about other people. She can't stand seeing other people get hurt by the Capitol, even though she doesn't know those people. Katniss grows in this movie, and I can relate to that because I've been there. Well, not there in the middle of a war, but there where you grow up and realize that you want to make yourself useful for other people. Again, this reminds me that I'm not a teenager anymore haha.
Since I love getting my feelings twisted (hahaha), I also "enjoy" Josh Hutcherson's and Sam Claflin's heartbreaking performances as Peeta and Finnick. That scene where Peeta sees a footage of Katniss during an interview and talks directly to her really breaks my heart. And the heroic, charming Finnick is replaced by the Finnick who looks miserable and lost here. I have a crush on him and it's just so heartbreaking to see him miserable hahahaha.
I realized that I had spent too much time reading and watching things that involve murders and psychotic people (which made my mom a little worried haha), so I decided to have something different this month. And since this month is February aka the month of love, I thought it would be great to read something... romantic. So I bought a novel called Eleanor & Park, written by Rainbow Rowell.
Eleanor & Park follows two teenagers whose names are in the title as they experience first love. Eleanor is an eccentric new girl at school who catches the attention of everyone at school, including Park, a Korean-American boy who sits next to her on the school bus. They unexpectedly fall so hard for each other despite the abuse, the insecurity, and the bullying that they experience as teenagers.
On the cover of my copy of the book, there is a quote from John Green's review that goes like this,
"Eleanor & Park reminded me not just what it's like to be young and in love with a girl, but also what it's like to be young and in love with a book."
Well, I agree with him. This book reminds me how it feels like to be young and in love.
Eleanor & Park makes me realize how old I am because it makes me recall the time when I was as young as its characters and realize that that time was a looong time ago. Eleanor and Park are sixteen in the book. I am turning twenty-three this year, which means that I was their age, like, seven years ago. Following Eleanor and Park's journey makes me realize how much I've grown since I was sixteen. I used to be like Eleanor and Park. Like those two characters, I used to be so insecure about myself, my abilities, my future, my physical appearance. Like those two characters, I used to believe that love is true when you can be with the person that you love forever. But now things are different; the way I see things are different. I'm sure things are also different for Eleanor and Park when they are older. After that open ending, I can imagine how they learn to accept themselves for who they really are, to be grateful for everything they have, and to love selflessly without wanting to keep the ones that they love for themselves.
Eleanor & Park also makes me fall in love. This book made me want to smile all the time, until my cheeks hurt. It made me giggle like teenage girls when they talk about their crushes. It made me want to sing and dance with strangers and birds on my way to my office like Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer. It made feel like there were butterflies in my stomach. I was crazy in love when I was reading this book, just like Eleanor and Park.
My dream cast for the movie haha. Ki Hong Lee as Park and Hailee Steinfeld as Eleanor.
I heard there will be a movie adaptation of Eleanor & Park soon and I'm excited about it. I still can't decide who should play Eleanor because, when I think of her, I always picture Merida from the animated movie Brave in my head hahaha. Probably because of the crazy red hair thing. Someone suggests Hailee Steinfeld and I love her, so I think I'll support that suggestion. For Park, I really want Ki Hong Lee from The Maze Runner to play him. He just fits the role perfectly! I also imagine Cate Blanchett as Eleanor's mom and Yunjin Kim as Park's mom.
During the announcement of this year's Oscars nominees, a song called Lost Stars was mentioned as a nominee for the best original song category. The song is taken from the movie entitled Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Adam Levine, Hailee Steinfeld, James Corden, etc. I had known about this movie for a while when I heard about the nomination, but I hadn't seen it and knew nothing about the song. After the announcement, I listened to the song and immediately fell in love with it. And then I decided to see the movie, and then I fell in love with it too.
So Begin Again is about two lonely people, Gretta (Knightley) and Dan (Ruffalo). Gretta is a talented singer-songwriter who gets betrayed by her rock star boyfriend Dave (Levine) while Dan is a music producer who gets fired by his business partner. Dan thinks Gretta is the great discovery that can help him get his job back. Then, they start working on Gretta's demo with their friends, but the process turns out to be more than just a recording process: it makes the two realize what they really want in this life, what they want to do with their music, and so much more.
This movie made me cry A LOT. This is not even a sad movie but I did cry so much. It is just so natural and sweet and cute; it just touches my heart. The story is about music and, to be honest, I'm not really a "music" person. But this story makes me see music through the eyes of the people who love it so deeply. I can see how music magically fixes a broken family, how it makes a broken teenage girl smile again, how it can make you understand things that cannot be spoken, how it contains all the feelings inside its writer's heart. It's just beautiful.
It is so easy for me to relate to Gretta. She is lonely and loves someone, who wastes her love, like a fool. She turns her feelings into songs and doesn't care about what people think about her songs because they are hers, not theirs. She gets tempted by that foolish love when her ex boyfriend wants her back but then she realizes that it's not what she wants. My favorite Gretta scene is near the end of the movie, where Dave sings their song, Lost Stars, and Gretta watches him with a smile. The happiness in her face slowly fades and then she runs away. Her heart is broken. I'm not sure about this because it's never explicitly explained in the movie, but I think, at that moment, she realizes that she doesn't want to be with Dave anymore. I think she realizes that things can never go back to they way they used to be. I could really feel her heartbreak in that scene. And then cried like a baby haha.
Keira Knightley plays Gretta very naturally and beautifully in this movie, but James Corden, who plays Steve, is definitely the scene-stealer. I really love his scenes with Keira. They're so natural and don't look like they're scripted. Their scenes together look like a video of two real, drunk friends chatting. And then there's Hailee Steinfeld, who plays Dan's daughter, Violet. Her character always tries to look tough and careless but she is actually really sweet at heart. I just can't stand her cuteness.
Another thing that I adore from this movie is, of course, Lost Stars, the song. I really love the Adam Levine version (that's the one in the scene that made me cry) but Keira's version is also nice and so natural. Ehm how many times have I said the word "natural"? Well the movie IS really natural.
So I think Begin Again deserves more recognition and everyone should see it. The movie is so beautiful. It is the kind of movie that would make you smile and cry at the same time; the kind that brings warmth to your heart.
I saw The Imitation Game! It is, similar The Theory of Everything, a biopic of a genius British man with a lovable British actor playing the lead role that gets nominated in all the awards this year. If Theory has Stephen Hawking, this one has Alan Turing, a British mathematician who is known as the father of computer science. The movie focuses on Turing's contribution in the British government's secret project during World War II. Turing and a group of code breakers must decode messages that are sent by the Germans which contain the information about their upcoming attacks to England. Turing's work helps save so many people and shorten the war, but no one knows about his heroic act because the government decides to keep it a secret. Ironically, Turing gets recognized and punished by the government for being gay, which is illegal at that time.
The movie's most memorable quote
First of all, I do NOT understand anything about the encryption and the computer science things that they talk about in this movie (hahahaha). So please don't expect me to talk about it.
The most fascinating thing about this movie for me is the main character, Alan Turing, and the way he is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch. He is, like, the most human character I've ever seen in a movie. He has all the sides in human personality. He is smart, but very arrogant. He can be the most irritating person in the world, but he can be ridiculously funny as well. Sometimes he appears to be heartless, but at other times he shows that he has the capability to care so much about something, or someone. He achieves something that no one can even imagine, but he experiences painful loss too. Sometimes he looks like a robot that has no feelings, but at one moment we get to see him crying his heart out like... a human. There is one scene where Turing asks, "What am I? Am I a machine? Am I a person?". I find the questions very heartbreaking because, like I've stated, he is the most human character I've ever seen. The screenwriter writes the character very well, and Mr Cumberbatch plays it beautifully. I'm amazed.
Besides the insanely famous and talented Benedict Cumberbatch, there is a group of other actors who are really fun to watch in this movie. There is the beautiful Keira Knightley as Joan Clarke, the only woman in Turing's team. The character is, like, the coolest woman. She's intelligent, very determined, sensitive, kind and, of course, breathtakingly beautiful (Keira always looks beautiful in 1940s make up and costume, doesn't she?). And then there is Matthew Goode as Hugh Alexander, who is very charming and smart (I love guys who is smart and charming haha). I enjoy watching Allen Leech as John too. There is a shocking thing about John that is revealed near the end of the movie and it really shocks me because he is always very likable throughout the movie.
I tend to forget mentioning this aspect in my reviews but I don't forget this time, the score of this movie is so beautiful! It is composed by the famous composer Alexandre Desplat, who also worked on my other favorite films such as Harry Potter and Benjamin Button. I also love the costumes and the sets of the movie. This movie is so good for your eyes to see.
Lastly, I think the story that this movie delivers is still relevant in our era. In this era, we can still see people get discriminated and even punished for being gay, for being fat, for having a skin color that is different from other people, for choosing a certain religion and for doing other little, personal things. We can still see how people's extraordinary talents and great achievements get completely ignored while the little, personal things about them get judged. This movie can make us think again about how we treat other people.
To conclude, The Imitation Game is remarkable. The message, the performances, the story and the characters are crafted so beautifully and carefully, which creates something very powerful.
The 72nd Golden Globe Awards was held yesterday and I am so happy because one of my favorite actors Eddie Redmayne won in the Best Actor - Drama category! Emma Stone didn't win the best supporting actress title but I think it's awesome enough for her just to be nominated, and she looked stunning in her jumpsuit!
Another winner from Theory of Everything team is composer Johann Johannsson. He composed the score for the Stephen Hawking movie and won in the Best Score category. I know nothing about the technical things in music, but I think he truly deserves this award. The music is just so beautiful and soothing. Listening to the score of Theory of Everything always reminds me of the main message of the movie: "While there is life, there is hope." I think it's amazing that Mr Johannsson could capture that message in the score.
So here's the Golden Globe winning score of The Theory of Everything by Johann Johannsson. My personal favorite is the first track, Cambridge, 1963. Enjoy!
Besides making a list of new year resolutions, making a list of anticipated movies is also a must for me at the beginning of every year. Making that list just makes me so excited to start the new year, and excitement is a good thing to start a new year with, right? So here are the 2015 movies that I can't wait to see.
15. FIFTY SHADES OF GREY Release Date : February 13 2015 (USA) Director : Sam Taylor-Wood Cast : Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, etc. Synopsis : A literature student (Johnson) has her life twisted as she begins having a steamy love affair with a charming businessman, Christian Grey (Dornan). Why I want to see it : Well, I just want to know what makes the story (which is based on a book series that beats Harry Potter as the best-selling book series of all time) so phenomenal despite the negative reviews that it receives.
14. SPECTRE Release Date : November 6 2015 (USA) Director : Sam Mendes Cast : Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Monica Belluci, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, etc. Synopsis : James Bond (Craig) must work to reveal the truth behind a cryptic message. Why I want to see it : I've never actually seen a Bond movie until I saw Skyfall, which I think is great. Knowing that the director and the main cast of Skyfall are returning for this one makes me optimistic about this movie.
13. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA Release Date : March 13 2015 Director : Ron Howard Cast : Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw, Cillian Murphy, etc. Synopsis : A group of whalers encounters a giant whale (it's a whale and it's giant; it must be SO big...), gets attacked by it and struggles to stay alive in the open sea. Why I want to see it : When I spotted the phrase "a giant whale", I thought this was a fantasy movie. But, nope, it's based on a true story that inspires the novel Moby Dick. That makes me want to know the story. The trailer looks good too.
12. CRIMSON PEAK
Release Date : October 16 2015 (USA)
Director : Guillermo del Toro
Cast : Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam, etc.
Synopsis : A young author (Wasikowska) is lured by a charming man (Hiddleston) and is brought to his old house. There, she finds some unexpected things, such as a jealous sister (Chastain) and skeletons in the closet.
Why I want to see it : Actually, I'm not a fan of horror movies (or Tom Hiddleston), but this one is directed by Guillermo del Toro, a director who is known for visually stunning films that have unique stories. After seeing the spooky images from this movie, I imagine it would be "a nightmare dressed like a daydream" (Why am I using Taylor Swift's song lyric? Hahaha). Creepy, but beautiful.
11. TOMORROWLAND
Release Date : May 22 2015 (USA)
Director : Brad Bird
Cast : George Clooney, Britt Robertson, etc.
Synopsis : A genius man (Clooney) and a teenage girl (Robertson) team up to unveil the secrets of a mysterious place caught between time and space.
Why I want to see it : I first found out about this movie from its teaser trailer. The trailer doesn't show much but is very, very intriguing. The premise reminds me of Interstellar a bit (especially the ending part), but I bet this one will be more family-friendly because it's a Disney movie.
10. EX MACHINA
Release Date : April 10 2015 (USA)
Director : Alex Garland
Cast : Oscar Isaac, Domhnal Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, etc.
Synopsis : A computer coder (Gleeson) wins a chance to meet the CEO of his company (Isaac) only to find out that he is being used in an experiment that involves a female A.I. (Vikander).
Why I want to see it : The trailer is very intriguing. It's a bit similar to Spike Jonze's Her, I think, but the sci-fi elements seem to be more dominant here.
9. THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Release Date : May 1 2015 (USA) Director : Joss Whedon Cast : Robert Downey Jr., James Spader, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, etc. Synopsis : The superhero gang has to team up once again to face a new enemy named Ultron (Spader) and meets two newcomers, Quicksilver (Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Olsen). Why I want to see it : To be honest, I just want to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Their characters seem to have big and mysterious roles in the movie, and they are great young actors. It's always nice to see talented young actors take roles in blockbuster movies and bring depth and humanity into the characters.
8. CINDERELLA
Release Date : March 13 2015 (USA)
Director : Kenneth Branagh
Cast : Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Madden, etc.
Synopsis : Well, you know how the story goes...
Why I want to see it : The trailer is very beautiful. I love seeing movies that are visually beautiful. And the director, Kenneth Branagh (aka Professor Lockhart from Harry Potter hahaha), states that his Cinderella won't be a woman whose happiness is determined by whether she finds a man or not. I really love this idea as well.
7. THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Release Date : February 13 2015 (USA)
Director : Richard LaGravenese
Cast : Anna Kendrick, Jeremy Jordan, etc.
Synopsis : A love story of an actress (Kendrick) and a novelist (Jordan) which is told back and forth, from two perspectives, through songs, and ends with failure.
Why I want to see it : It's a musical and I love musicals! I mean, don't you wish you could sing your heart out like those people in musicals? Hahaha. I really like the premise as well; I've never seen a musical with this kind of story. Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan look (and sound) awesome too.
6. SILENCE
Release Date : TBA
Director : Martin Scorsese
Cast : Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, etc
Synopsis : Two Jesuit priests travel to Japan to find their mentor and spread the teachings of Christianity, but have to face violence as they carry out their mission.
Why I want to see it : It's directed by Martin Scorsese, whose movies are mostly Oscar-worthy, and based on a critically acclaimed novel. From the synopsis, it seems like the story is the kind that has an important message. And, yeah, Mr Andrew Garfield and his beard are in it. It's been a long time since I saw Andrew in a non-Spiderman movie like this.
5. JURASSIC WORLD
Release Date : June 12 2015 (USA)
Director : Colin Trevorrow
Cast : Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, etc.
Synopsis : A genetically-modified hybrid dinosaur is created for the legendary theme park to attract more visitors, but the project does not go well.
Why I want to see it : I saw one of the previous Jurassic movies when I was a kid and, man, those dinosaurs that eat humans gave me nightmares. The trailer of this new installment looks good, even though the story sounds mediocre. I imagine it would be like the latest version of Godzilla, which doesn't have an innovative story but depicts the dreadful atmosphere of being terrorized by giant monsters very well.
4. MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS Release Date : September 18 2015 (USA) Director : Wes Ball Cast : Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Sangster, Rosa Salazar, etc. Synopsis : Thomas (O'Brien) and his friends must face another phase of the mysterious trials run by an organization, which is also mysterious, called The Scorch Trials. Why I want to see it : I really love the first book and movie of the saga, The Maze Runner. Even though I didn't enjoy the second book as much as I enjoyed the first one, knowing that Wes Ball and the whole cast are returning for the movie adaptation makes me optimistic about it. The Maze Runner movie is not identical with the book but the changes make me love the story even more. I hope they can do that again with this one.
3. JUPITER ASCENDING Release Date : February 6 2015 (USA) Director : Andy and Lana Wachowski Cast : Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, etc. Synopsis : Ehm the story is so complicated. I hope my explanation is correct. The Earth turns out to be a planet seeded by a royal alien family to be harvested as soon as the people in it (aka us) reach the Darwinian state of perfection. And then there is Jupiter (Kunis), an ordinary woman from Earth who is believed to be the reincarnartion of some kind of queen in the royal family, which threatens the position of Balem (Redmayne), the eldest child in the royal family, and makes him want her dead.
Why I want to see it : The story is an original one, which is so rare these days, and it is written by the Wachowskis, the creators of The Matrix. They successfully mix science-fiction and philosophy in The Matrix so I'm curious about what they have in Jupiter Ascending. What I really want to know is why the main character who comes from Earth is named after another planet (Jupiter). There has to be something about it hahaha. And, yes, Eddie Redmayne plays the villain here.
2. THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 Release Date : November 20 2015 (USA) Director : Francis Lawrence Cast : Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, etc. Synopsis: This final installment in The Hunger Games saga is the continuation of Mockingjay Part 1 where Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) leads the revolution against the Capitol. Why I want to see it : I want to know how it ends. I haven't read the book but I read somewhere that the ending is not like how non-readers expect, which makes me curious. Well, I need to watch Part 1 first (I missed the movie because I was badly ill when it was released *sigh*).
1. STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS Release Date : December 18 2015 (USA) Director : J.J. Abrams Cast : Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar Isaac, etc. Synopsis : Err I don't know, they keep it a secret. Why I want to see it : It's Star Wars everybody! STAR WARS! It is one of my favorite sagas ever. I have no idea how the story would be like because the Darth Vader story, which connects all the previous episodes, has ended. But it's directed by J.J. Abrams and I believe he wouldn't disappoint us. I love what he did with Star Trek and I believe he could resurrect the legendary Star Wars saga in an awesome way. Here's the the first trailer of The Force Awakens, which made me scream and cry hahaha.
Hope these exciting movies can bring some excitement into the new year!
